Union: Border Patrol Agents Given Arrest Quotas

(Santa Ana, California) According to Lombardo Amaya, president of Local 2554 of the National Border Patrol Council, agents in Riverside have been given arrest quotas for illegal aliens.

"They were told if you don't produce this, we will have to change your weekends off," Amaya said, adding that he will discuss the matter Monday with the sector chief who oversees the station. "Sometimes, like in politics, this agency is about looking good."

The alleged quotas, which involve only the Border Patrol's Riverside station, run counter to agency practice, which does not set a minimum number of arrests that must be made, said Lloyd Easterling, an agency spokesman in Washington.

Sector chief Jeffrey Calhoon said he knows nothing about the alleged quotas.

According to Arturo Alcaraz, lead union representative at the Riverside station, the alleged quota is 150 illegals a month, up from 100 a month in November and December 2008.

Activists for illegals are disturbed by the quota system. Illegals are outraged, saying that they are being denied equal protection under the law.